--- id: "scan-barcodes" lang: "en" title: "Scan products with a barcode scanner" summary: "Give each product its barcode, switch on barcode scanning, then scan to add products to a sale or to find them on the stock screens." area: "Selling at the till" kind: "task" url: "https://zeropos.shop/help/scan-barcodes" alternate: "https://zeropos.shop/help/scan-barcodes?lang=es" markdown: "https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/scan-barcodes.md" screens: ["/pos/sale","/backoffice/settings/sale-options","/backoffice/products","/pos/product-event","/pos/stock-taking","/pos/inventory"] where_to_find: ["New Sale","MANAGE › Settings › Sale options","BACKOFFICE › Inventory › Products","Quick actions › Mark tester or damaged","Quick actions › Stock-taking","Quick actions › Stock adjust"] related: ["make-a-sale","sale-options","products-and-stock","tester-or-damaged","import-products"] updated: "2026-10-16" --- # Scan products with a barcode scanner Give each product its barcode, switch on barcode scanning, then scan to add products to a sale or to find them on the stock screens. Zero POS reads a barcode scanner that types the code like a keyboard and then presses Enter, plugged in by USB or paired by Bluetooth. With **Barcode scanning** on, the till has a **Scan** button: tap it, scan, and the product goes into the **Cart**. For products with a barcode on the box, or a label printed with their SKU. A treatment, or a product with neither, is tapped on its card ([Make a sale](https://zeropos.shop/help/make-a-sale)). Where to find it: New Sale; MANAGE › Settings › Sale options; BACKOFFICE › Inventory › Products; Quick actions › Mark tester or damaged; Quick actions › Stock-taking; Quick actions › Stock adjust. ## Before you start - An owner or an administrator switches on **Barcode scanning** in [MANAGE › Settings › Sale options](https://app.zeropos.shop/backoffice/settings/sale-options); managers see that screen read-only. - Each product carries its code in **Barcode**, typed on its form or brought in by an import ([Import your product list](https://zeropos.shop/help/import-products)), or wears a label printed with its **SKU**. - The scanner is connected, as a keyboard, to the computer, tablet or phone the till runs on. A camera can't scan. ## Steps ### Switch it on 1. Open [MANAGE › Settings › Sale options](https://app.zeropos.shop/backoffice/settings/sale-options). 2. Under **Customer data on checkout**, switch on **Barcode scanning**. 3. Tap **Save**. ### Give products their barcodes 4. Open [BACKOFFICE › Inventory › Products](https://app.zeropos.shop/backoffice/products) and tap the product's name to edit it, or **New Product** for a new one. 5. Fill in everything else first and leave **Barcode** for last: the scanner presses Enter after the code, and Enter saves the form. 6. Click in **Barcode** and scan the product's box: the code fills in and the product is saved. - Or type the code and tap **Save Changes**, or **Create Product** on a new one. ### Scan at the till 7. Open [New Sale](https://app.zeropos.shop/pos/sale) and check, at the top, the shop the till sells from. 8. Tap **Scan**, then scan the product: it goes into the **Cart** at its price. - Each scan adds its own line, as a tap on its card does. 9. Scan the next product straight away: the till keeps listening until you tap something else. 10. After you have tapped anything else, tap **Scan** again before the next scan. 11. Take the payment and tap **Create Sale** as usual ([Take payment at the till](https://zeropos.shop/help/take-payment)). ### Scan on the stock screens 12. On [Quick actions › Mark tester or damaged](https://app.zeropos.shop/pos/product-event), tap the scan button beside the search box, **Scan barcode**, then scan: that product's count under **Selected items** goes up by one. 13. On [Quick actions › Stock-taking](https://app.zeropos.shop/pos/stock-taking) or [Quick actions › Stock adjust](https://app.zeropos.shop/pos/inventory), tap **Search products** and scan: the list narrows to that product. 14. Do what you came for on that row, then clear the search box before you scan the next product. ## What happens next - A scan only puts the product in the **Cart**: stock, money and reports move when the sale is created, as with a tapped card ([Make a sale](https://zeropos.shop/help/make-a-sale)). - On the stock screens a scan only finds the product: nothing changes until you record the testers, submit the count or save the adjustment. - A barcode is saved on the product, so every shop's till finds the product by it from then on. ## Common questions ### Can I scan with the phone's or the tablet's camera? No. Zero POS reads a scanner that types like a keyboard: plug one in by USB, or pair a Bluetooth one with the device. ### Nothing happens when I scan. Tap **Scan** first: the till listens for the scanner only after that, until you tap something else. If the code lands in **Search Product** instead, the grid shows that product: tap its card. With no **Scan** button, scanning is off: ask an owner to switch it on ([Sale options: customers, minimum prices and receipts](https://zeropos.shop/help/sale-options)). ### Can I scan a SKU instead of a barcode? Yes: a label printed with the product's **SKU** scans too. A scan looks for the code in **Barcode** first, then in **SKU**, where capitals and small letters count the same. If two products share a code, a scan always takes the one created first, so give each product its own. ### What if I give a product a barcode another product already has? It is saved anyway, and the Products list then names the other product and the one a scan rings up: the one added first. An import preview warns the same way. Change one of the barcodes so both can be scanned. ### I scanned a product on Mark tester or damaged, but the list doesn't show it. It is counted under **Selected items**, which lists everything you scan or pick, whatever the list on the left shows: a long catalogue loads there a page at a time, and a search shows only what it finds. Everything under **Selected items** is recorded. Scan it again for one more, or tap the cross beside it to take it off. ### How do I sell two of the same product? Scan it twice: each scan adds a line. With **Quantity steppers** on, tap + on its line instead ([Sale options: customers, minimum prices and receipts](https://zeropos.shop/help/sale-options)). ## If you see this - “**Product not found**” — What to do: No active product has that code in its **Barcode** or its **SKU**. Check the product's form: a barcode must match the box digit for digit, and a SKU letter for letter, capitals aside. An inactive product is never found. - “**Scan failed — try again**” — What to do: The till couldn't reach Zero POS. Check the connection, then tap **Scan** and scan again. ## Good to know - With **Barcode scanning** off, a scanner still types into whichever box you tap: scanned into **Search Product**, a code shows its product. - Scan codes into **Barcode** rather than typing them: nothing is mistyped, and the code is exactly what the till looks for. ## Related guides - [Make a sale](https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/make-a-sale.md) - [Sale options: customers, minimum prices and receipts](https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/sale-options.md) - [Products and stock](https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/products-and-stock.md) - [Mark tester or damaged](https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/tester-or-damaged.md) - [Import your product list](https://zeropos.shop/help/md/en/import-products.md)